Means for playing musical instruments



June 24, 1930.

S. KUCHARSKI MEANS FOR PLAYING MUSICAL ENSTRUMENTS Filed June 2a, 1928 j 'HU f Z $000000 ooooooo ooooooo ooooooQ ooooooo oooooob d Jnven for I Jaw-aw .jw zo;

Patented June 24, 1930 STANISLAUS KUCHARSKI, OF BERLIWCH'ARLOTTENBURG, GERMANY MEANS FOR PLAYING MUSICAL INS'IRU'MIEZNTS" Application filed June 23, 1928, Serial No.

The invention concerns improvements in means for playing musical instruments and comprises a music band progressively fed forward by hand in which the group of holes of the music band producing a harmony cooperates with a plurality of sound producing parts'placed in parallel rows transversely to its direction to feed.

Such a playing means for musical key instruments is already known and disclosed by my earlier U. S. Patent, No. 1,643,562, dated September 27, 1927, of which the present invention is an improvement.

In this earlier device, the keys are actuated by fingers which by electromagnets are brought from a position of rest to the working position and in this position are secured by a bar which in correspondence with the rhythm of the piece of music in question is pressed down by hand. The selection of the fingers to be brought into the working position for a harmony is effected in the case of this older device by closing the circuit of the aforesaid electromagnets by contact fingers which engage through holes in the progressively advanced music band.

By my present invention there is made possible in the means mentioned in the beginning a considerable diminution in the feed interval of the music band whereby the exactness and certainty of guiding the music band is increased and at the same time mass actions which may cause disturbing noises are diminished.

My invention is not limited to playing apparatus of the kind described at the outset, but is also usable for playing apparatus in which the above mentioned fingers coperating with the keys-instead of electromagnetically, are actuated mechanically or pneumatically or in which the holes of the music band act as valves for direct blowing of the sound producing elements.

A form of construction in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 shows a tune sheet provided for example with conveying apertures a extending along the centre line of the web and with 287,848,.and-in Germany June 25, 1927:

which is adapted to engage adrivingmem= ber of the apparatus whlch is not shown.

Flgure'2 shows for example a contact field bprovided with three rows of contacts d,'h, 71 extending transversely to the direction of feed of the web. Through the perforations of thetune sheet springs for example may come into contact with the contacts and thus close electric circuits'for actuatin the keys.

the outer rows of contacts d, i is somewhat smaller than three times the distance 0.

After the next'movement through the distance c the row of apertures e isnot directly over the row of contacts h but to the left thereof,

whilst the row of apertures f is not directly abovethe row ofcontactsibuttotheleftthereof and the row of apertures g has passed beyond the contact field. Now however it is possible for other apertures, which are to the right of the apertures e, and which for the sake of clearness are shown as black dots, may come into register with the row of contacts 72. and with the row of contacts 2' similar apertures which are to the right of the apertures f. It is thus possible for a fresh accord of the piece of music to come into operation after one step of movement of the web. After a further step of movement the shaded apertures come into register with the row of contacts 2', these apertures being provided to the extreme right of the field of apertures e. In this manner each field of apertures e, f, 9 may be assumed to be provided with three parallel transverse rows of apertures which co-operate successively with the rows of contacts d, h, i.

During the feed movement of the web in the direction of the arrows the contacts, for example the contacts h, are passed over by the apertures e which do not appertain thereto or the springs passing through these, but this does not produce a sound as the circuit for the contacts is not closed until after the completion of the feed movement (at a difierent point, In the same manner all other contacts which are formed in this manner remain ineffective. The ratio 421230 is here equal to 16:20 mm. or t: 5. It might also have any other value but always the sum of the intervals oi the organ rows, that is, in the example shown, the sum of the intervals of the contact rows, (Z, 1 1,, 2', must be different by a whole multiple of the feed interval 0.

I claim Means for playing musical instruments comprising a music band moved forward progressively by hand in which a group of holes in said band adapted to produce a harmony cooperates with a plurality of sound producing elements in parallel rows positioned transversely to the direction of movement of said band, distinguished thereby that each movement forward of the music band is smaller than the interval between two of such rows, that, further, the sum of the intervals between said rows is different by a whole multiple of the distance moved forward and that linally in the interval of the music band corresponding to the distance moved forward are arranged several additional transverse rows of holes, each of which rows belong to another harmony so that by each forward movement of the music band another group of rows of holes is made to cooperate therewith by being in coincidence with the parallel rows of the sound producing elements.

STANISLAUS KUCHARSKI. 

